Sovereign Trail

Sovereign Trail
Type: Scenic delight
Surface: Singletrack - tough
Highlights: Its the only singletrack, and the newest ride in Moab.
Miles: 6 each way
Altitude: 4500
Climbing: 100
Located_near: Moab

Trailhead
Drive north from Moab past the turnoff for Canyonlands to Willow Springs Rd. (on the right, watch for the small sign). Pass through the unlocked gate (please reclose the gate) and drive a few miles along the dirt track. Watch for a small pumping station (natural gas?). Park at the pumping station. Ride your bike just past the pumping station and look for a sandy double track off to the left (across the road from the pumping station). Blast through the sandy spot, and follow the double track a few hundred feet until it drops into a shallow wash. The road crosses the wash, but the single track goes left up the wash (watch for bicycle tire tracks). The trail is well marked. There are Blue and White sprockets painted on the rock sections, and elsewhere, the trail is obvious. NOTE: the trail is also accessible on its north end from Dalton Well Rd.

Ride_description
According to the bike shops in town the trail is only 4 months old. In spite of its youth, it is very well ridden in. The locals are all hitting it, and recommending it to visitors. By the way, three different shops recommended this ride when we asked them, "what would you ride today"? The ride can be done as an out and back, or a loop. To make it a loop, you have to include all of Willow Springs road that you just drove, a few miles on Hwy 191 and several miles on Dalton Well Rd. The only rider who should ever make this a loop ride is someone who got into the ride and found themselves over their head. The roads back would be a less challenging way to get back to the car. Although, it is MUCH longer and more BORING to do the loop. I recommend the trail be ridden from Willow Springs up to Dalton Wells and then back down. The trail is more uphill and more technically challenging South to North, so its best to get this out of the way first. On the return, there is a steep long climb right off the bat, but the rest of the trail is much more of a high speed romp coming back down from the north. This trail is a really fun ride. The net elevation gain is minimal, but you drop into and climb out of several deep washes (or small canyons depending on your perspective). The beauty of this trail is not in its 500 foot cliffs, but in the much more intimate small canyons and vistas toward Arches National Park. The ride is full of technical challenges. There are steep climbs over mixed rocks and soft soil, tons of ledges to hop, corrugated sandstone sections, some sand in the wash bottoms and really fun (and hair-raising) descents. The only negative is that the first (southernmost) half mile is pretty sandy as the trail makes its way north through the wash. After that it is a top notch run. This trail is little known now, but is destined to become one of Moab's top 10.